Madrid, Feb. 8 (BUS): Being a fan of Spanish club Real Betis wasn’t fun not so long ago, an Associated Press report said /
And while city rivals Sevilla remained close to the top of La Liga and won several Europa League titles, Betis only struggled to stay in the top flight.
Then coach Manuel Pellegrini came along, and it wasn’t long before Betis fans started cheering again.
The experienced Chilean coach quickly transformed the fortunes of the club with his attacking formations and entertaining football.
Two seasons after being threatened with relegation and finishing 15th in La Liga, Betis is battling close to the top of the standings and is still alive in the Europa League and Copa del Rey.
Betis visits Rayo Vallecano in the first leg of the semi-finals of Cuba on Wednesday, looking to return to the final for the first time since his last title in any competition in 2005.
Pellegrini has managed to restore a winning mentality to a Betis side that includes players such as Nabil Fekir, Borja Iglesias, Sergio Canales, Joaquin Sanchez, Juanmi, Marc Bartra and Hetor Bellerin.
The coach was hired in 2020. The 68-year-old Pellegrini, a former player who is also a civil engineer, was familiar in La Liga having previously coached Villarreal, Malaga and Real Madrid.
Villarreal became one of the best teams in Europe under him in the 2000s, reaching the Champions League semi-finals in 2006. They finished second in the league under Pellegrini in 2008. Elsewhere, they won the Premier League with Manchester City in 2014.
It was a rather rough start at Betis, but the team put in a solid performance near the end of their first season to finish sixth and secure a place in the Europa League.
This season, Betis qualified for the Europa League knockout round from a group that includes Celtic, Bayer Leverkusen and Werkvaros. Next time she will face Zenit St. Petersburg.
In La Liga, Betis won 12 of 23 matches to finish third behind Sevilla and leaders Real Madrid. He has the second best attack in the league with 41 goals, behind 48 goals from Madrid.
He beat his rival Seville in the last 16 of the Copa Cup, and defeated Real Sociedad 4-0 as a visitor in the individual elimination quarter-final. Betis have been eliminated by champions Valencia in the last four matches of the 2019 Copa Cup.
The team was punished by closing part of the Benito Villamarín stadium after a piece of PVC thrown by a fan hit the Sevilla player in the head during the Copa match last month. The match was suspended and resumed a day later behind closed doors.
Betis will face Rayo, who are in the Copa semi-finals for the first time in four decades and are trying to reach the final for the first time.
Modest Madrid, led by veteran Colombian striker Radamel Falcao, has set one of the best home records in Spanish football, with just nine wins and one loss from 12 games at the Vallecas stadium.
insult